Debate over the role of sexist language in promoting or denying equal job opportunities is examined, especially in institutions of higher education. It is concluded that the view that use of certain words leads to unfair discrimination is based on untenable theories of meaning, making policies for regulation of language indefensible. (Author/MSE)

Examined the intonation of second-language speakers of English from three language groups--Spanish, Japanese, and Thai--focusing on how native nonnative speakers use intonation to signal meaning in the structure of their discourse. Results revealed that nonnative speakers did not consistently use pitch to signal meaningful contrasts in many…

Measures the extent to which students' reactions to usage errors changed as a result of having completed a business communication course. Finds that student reactions to usage errors can be positively affected by completion of a business communication class that does not have a formal basic skills development unit. (PRA)

The prototype effects in understanding unfamiliar meanings and usage in a polysemous word, "play," are examined. The learners use prototypical meanings as a referential point to understand peripheral meanings. (Author/VWL)

Developing academic, or school-based, literacy poses a significant challenge for many students, because the language through which academic subjects are presented is markedly different from the social language that students use in everyday ordinary life. This article focuses on one aspect of academic language, the functions of nouns and nominal…

The study of SLA began around the beginning of the 70s with the emergence of both theoretical and empirical studies. Undoubtedly, the acquisition of tense/aspect, besides other topics, has attracted much interest from researchers. This study investigated the use of telic and atelic verb forms in the oral production of Turkish speakers of English…

Both language students and language teachers can be troubled by new words, expressions, or usage in Chinese. A new use of an old word or expression is particularly difficult for a more advanced or experienced speaker, less so for a beginner. The growing popularity of abbreviations is another kind of change creating problems. Two kinds of…

A study of English nouns derived from verbs and ending in "-ee" is outlined. The objective was to determine whether those nouns exhibit verbal characteristics (aspectual, temporal, or modal) that can be attributed to their derivation from verbs. The study examined 209 nouns. Progress made in the investigation of four hypotheses is…

This study describes some aspects of the emergence of displaced reference (talking about topics other than those in the immediate context) in conversations between a child and her parents. The data consisted of tape recorded interaction with the child between 17 and 36 months. During this period, speech about the here and now always dominated, but…

Discusses the semantic field of "expression" and the implications for the teaching of oral and written expression. (Text is in French.) (AM)

This study examines the incidence and character of conditional statements ("if...then") in the spontaneous speech of young children. Twenty-four pairs of siblings, ranging in age from 2.1 years to 7.3 years, were observed and recorded while interacting in their homes for a period of 1 hour. Sixty-nine statements including "if"…

The purpose of this paper is to present systematically some facts regarding interdialectal constant and varying features of the semantics of English kinship terminology. The data present some problems for current views of grammar and of linguistic variation. Regarding the former, it is not clear what sort of "rule," what place in…

DEPENDENCE UPON SYMBOLS HAS LONG BEEN THE MARK OF CIVILIZED MAN. ALTHOUGH THE MAJORITY OF US HAVE LITTLE TROUBLE IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING THE REFERENTS OF PHYSICAL SYMBOLS, WE ARE LESS SURE WHEN DEALING WITH THE MORE SUBTLE TYPE OF SYMBOLS CALLED WORDS. WE KNOW THAT A WORD'S MEANING MAY VARY ACCORDING TO SPEAKER, WRITER, LISTENER, READER, OR…

In a sentence containing a conjunction "when,""once," or "as soon as," the events in the main and the subordinate clauses are understood as occurring closely together in time. This paper endeavors to uncover the subtle differences which nevertheless exist among them. Clauses headed by "when" can refer to a…